Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,’John 5:1-9(NLT)
The book of John, chapter 5, opens up with Jesus visiting Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate, where at a pool called Bethesda lay a great number of people who were sick. Among them was a miserable invalid who had been at the pool for thirty-eight years before he met Jesus.
Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. What is more enthralling than meeting Jesus?
Jesus could have told the man to go into the pool to get healed, but instead He ordered the man to pick up his mat and walk. Going into the pool was the man’s expected healing point. He had lain along the pool for years and had his hope of getting healed tied to immersing himself in the pool water when the angel would come to stir it. This is exactly what every sick person was doing to get healed, so this invalid was at the same place with all the sick people. But when he got his healing unlike the others who were carried into the pool, nobody carried him to the pool. He didn’t get himself wet receiving his breakthrough.
When you meet Jesus, your way to a breakthrough is unique. Our encounter with Jesus helps us to overcome the struggles that people without Jesus go through. It doesn’t matter how long your situation has been lingering. His authority over every issue is divinely endless. When you meet Jesus, He’s more than able to help you even when there’s no one available for Him to use as a vessel. The invalid said, “But when the pool is stirred, I have no one to carry me.” Now he has come face-to-face with Jesus and will not require a middleman.
If you’re looking for healing believe that Jesus can heal you with or without a physician. Trust in Jesus that your business can flourish with or without leads. Understand your relationship can improve with or without a counselor.
The only requirement is for you to meet Jesus, He’s ready to come and live in your heart if you haven’t invited Him. He’s ready to walk every step with you if you’ll rededicate your life to Him. Jesus is more than ready to take you to the next level if you’ll focus on Him.
from When You Meet Jesus Richard Owusu Bediako