In this episode, I will share with you an excerpt from my book, Journey to Hope. I will share with two events from the New Testament where two men who went from hopeless to hopeful as they encountered our Lord.
Let me begin by telling you about Jay Hollon. I've known Jay for many years now. He is a member of our congregation where we worship.
Jay was a very handsome young man with a great personality, great health, and full of the joy of life. He was an avid hunter and sportsman and very popular with those that knew him. Like so many of us in our youth, his focus was not entirely on our Lord. Also, like many of us, he seemed to approach life with an air of invincibility.
Then Jay’s life changed completely when he was severely injured in a tragic automobile accident. He was left paralyzed from traumatic head and other injuries with little hope of recovery or chance for what we would think of as a normal life. Although Jay survived the accident, he was left with speech problems and permanent physical paralysis. But of significant note was that his spirit was not diminished. From his injury he developed a deep love for our Lord and appreciation for life.
We can learn from Jay’s life that sometimes a tragedy or seemingly hopeless situations show us that hope comes from a direction we might not expect. Despite all that had happened, his spirit grew along with his faith. From his spiritual growth, he changed his focus on self and this life to being an example and encouragement to others. When we are faced with situations where hope seems to be lost, perhaps, like Jay, we need to change our focus. Jay will never recover from his injuries, but one day, because of his example of faithfulness, he will walk on the streets of gold, hand in hand with our Lord that he has come to love so much.
This information I want to share with you focuses on two events that demonstrate the value of persistence and faithfulness in the journey from hopeless to hopeful. Sometimes we see events in scripture that seem to be unrelated to each other. These two events seem to have no connection yet show us how Jesus takes us on our journey from hopeless to hopeful.
One event involves a man lowered through a hole in the roof so he could be healed by Jesus. The second was a man beside a pool of water who was unable to get help for a hoped-for healing. I will review these two events looking at similarities and differences in their situations and what we can apply to our journey to hope.
Persistence means to exist in an effort for a long or longer than usual time. It is also seen as a quality that allows us to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by others. Another word for persistence is steadfastness. This word means to continue doing something despite difficulties or delays in achieving success.
Let's look now at the first example, The Man Lowered Through a Roof
(Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-39)
Jesus spent a lot of time during His ministry in the region of Galilee teaching and healing. He chose the fishing village of Capernaum as an unofficial base from which He would travel throughout the region. Early in His ministry, even before He had appointed His apostles, He was teaching at a home in Capernaum. The house was not large, likely only a couple of rooms. It would probably have a flat roof made of poles covered with clay tiles. It was common for people to sleep on such a roof to escape the heat of the house.
People from the area gathered at this house to hear Jesus teach and to be healed. They crowded into, and all around the house. Among the crowd were the various Jewish teachers and leaders. Then four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat in hopes that he would be healed. When they realized they could not make it through the crowd to see Jesus, they went up onto the roof and lowered him into the room through a hole they had made. When Jesus saw their persistence and determination, He recognized their faith and said to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The Jewish leaders reacted not by rejoicing at the demonstration of grace but by accusing Jesus of blasphemy, the act of speaking or acting against God. They stated that only God could forgive sins. Although what they said was indeed true, they didn’t apply it to the Lord. Jesus knew what they were thinking so he began to explain to them that He had the authority to forgive sins as the Son of Man, an expression Jesus used to show His direct connection to God the Father. Jesus then healed the man of his paralysis before everyone. As a result, the now healed man and those other than the Jewish leaders that witnessed the event glorified God.
In this man’s journey to hope, we don’t clearly see hope sparked. It was likely when he heard Jesus would be in Capernaum. He would have heard of the teachings and healings of Jesus and perhaps thought if he could go to Jesus, he would be healed. The man’s hope resulted in an extension of his faith. It was likely a small faith, not focused as it would be later, but faith none-the-less.
We see hope sensed as the man is lowered into the room before our Lord. Rather than reject the man’s efforts, our Lord receives him. A critical element of our Lord receiving the man is again related to his faith. Jesus always recognizes and responds to faith, no matter how small.
Hope seen is demonstrated as Jesus heals the man of his paralysis. It is important to note that Jesus did not immediately heal the man of his physical issue. Jesus does an unexpected, but critical action. He first heals the man’s soul by forgiving him of his sins. This was likely not what the man wanted most or expected, but we can imagine that later he would recognize that the realization of forgiveness of his sins was truly hope seen and hope for eternity.
Jesus used this as a teachable moment to the Jewish leaders and the others witnessing the event. After answering the challenges to His authority to forgive sins, Jesus heals the man’s paralysis, completing his journey to hope. The result was a life filled with hope and God being glorified.
Let's look now at our second example, The Man at the Pool of Bethesda
(John 5:1-9)
Recovering from serious illnesses or debilitating injuries often takes a long period of waiting and care. We wait for test results, ongoing care, and hopefully, recovery. Some illnesses and injuries may take years from which to recover. Sometimes we never fully recover but learn to change and adapt as we continue with life.
Imagine having to wait 38 years without hope of recovery. Such is the case of another man Jesus healed from paralysis. He had been paralyzed for all those years and seemed to have no true hope of being healed. This is even more remarkable since the normal life span for a healthy person of that time was between 35 and 40 years. This man had likely been paralyzed during his entire life.
This day began like so many for this man but would end differently. His hopeless situation would turn into full hope. He had no indication he would be healed that day. Somehow, perhaps with help from family or friends, he gathered his meager possessions, including the mat he would lay upon, and was taken to the temple where he was placed in his usual spot at the pool. There, among many others suffering from various debilitating injuries and diseases, he waited. It was believed by many, although not stated in scripture, that the water was stirred up from time to time by an angel. Then, the first one into the pool would be miraculously healed. Unfortunately, because of his paralysis, he was unable to get into the pool before anyone else.
As Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem, He comes upon the man lying on his mat beside the pool. Jesus asks him what seems to be an obvious question. He asks if he wants to be healed. The man answers with a sense of futility that he can’t get into the pool before another gets in first. Jesus looks beyond the misdirected answer and tells the man to get up, pick up his bed, and walk. The man immediately does so.
John continues to explain that Jewish leaders questioned the man because he was carrying his bed in violation to their understanding of the Sabbath rules. He explained that the man who had healed him told him to do so. When they questioned him as to who had healed him, he was unable to say. In his obvious excitement after the event, he did not realize that Jesus quietly withdrew into the crowd. Later, at the Temple, Jesus approaches the man and encourages him to sin no more so nothing worse happens to him. Although not stated in scripture, it can be seen as an implication that Jesus had forgiven the man of sins as well.
The man then tells the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus that healed him. They become angry at Jesus because He is healing on the Sabbath and claims authority and equality with God as the Son of God.
We see this man also journeys from hopelessness to hopefulness. Like the other man healed from paralysis, we don’t necessarily see hope sparked but can speculate how it might have occurred. He hears Jesus asking if he wants to be healed. Although he offers an excuse about why he cannot be healed, he obviously holds out a spark of hope by returning each day for 38 years looking for a cure. Then, as Jesus heals the man, he quickly goes from hope sensed to hope seen. He hears the words he most wanted to hear (hope sensed) and acts upon the words (hope seen) by standing, gathering up his bed, and walking away. Later his fully realized hope is expressed as he explains how he was healed by Jesus.
What we learn from these events
Jesus has power over the spiritual and physical. Although both events involved two men with a similar disability, the event was not about them as much as it was about Jesus. The major lesson we learn from these events is that Jesus is equal to God and has power over the spiritual and physical. The remaining narrative in both examples establishes this fact as the healings were the method by which He shows this. Jesus completely heals in each event as He forgives sins and heals the physical body. Jesus wanted for these men, and us today more than a healed body, that would eventually die. He wants us to be healed in spirit and soul that will live for eternity. This represents total healing of what they and we need most. Today, our physical self may not be healed, but our spirit and soul will be healed through Jesus.
Faith is important, but not always evident. In many of the events when Jesus heals someone, we see a level of faith. Sometimes this faith was small, and other times Jesus commented on someone’s great faith. This has led some to believe that physical healing requires faith. This is a misunderstanding of what faith is and how it works in our relationship with God. Although important, whether we are physically healed or not, does not indicate we have great faith or weak faith. But faith is critical for our spiritual healing. We come to our Lord in simple and obedient faith submitting to His will. He responds, as He did with the paralytic man lowered through the roof by granting what we need most, spiritual healing.
If God chooses not to heal us of physical infirmities, that is His choice, and we must continue to glorify Him and seek Him. God is not using our condition to punish us. Remember, evil entered the world through Satan and the sin of Adam and Eve. God did not inject evil but allowed it to happen. It was our choice, not His. Also remember that sometimes physical infirmities occur because of things outside of our control or for reasons completely unknown to us. God may certainly choose to heal us physically, and when that happens, we should recognize it and praise Him even more as these two men did. We should also recognize physical healing is another chance to come to our Lord.
We lack the ability to save ourselves. In the event of the man lowered through the roof, we see Jesus recognizing the man’s faith through his and his companion’s persistence. Although important, their persistence by itself was not what saved him, it was their acting upon that faith. In the event of the man healed at the pool of Bethesda, we also see persistence but don’t see any indication of the man’s faith. If he had faith, it was misdirected towards the urban legend that the waters would miraculously heal.
It is important to note that of all the people gathered around the pool that day, it was this man whom Jesus chose to heal, even without a declaration of faith. Perhaps it was the desperate nature of the man’s condition, both physically and spiritually, as to why he was singled out. Regardless of why he was chosen for healing, we see that Jesus initiated the event.
This is a significant lesson for us about Jesus. The man at the pool is an illustration of our condition and helplessness before God. There was nothing this man could do to save himself. In a similar way, there is nothing we can do to save ourselves from our sins. Jesus knew this about the man, so He approaches him offering healing of his physical condition. In the same way that the man could not save himself from his physical condition, Jesus knows we cannot save ourselves from our sins. He came to us to offer salvation from our spiritual condition (Romans 5:6-11).
We have two different events sharing similarities and differences. We see two men unable to save themselves granted spiritual and physical healing through the grace of our Lord. Both demonstrate persistence in seeking healing. One is recognized for his faith, the other does not demonstrate faith, but is granted healing.
We learn from these events that our Lord is indeed Lord of heaven and earth by demonstrating His power over both. We also see that in the event of the man by the pool of Bethesda, a symbolic presentation of why our Lord came to us and the result when we turn to Him. We have no hope of saving ourselves, so Jesus came to us.
As we realize our condition, we can journey from hope sparked, to hope sensed, and hope seen as we turn to Jesus for true healing. We may not receive physical healing, but we will receive the more important spiritual healing and spiritual strength to deal with the physical challenges (Matthew 11:25-30).