Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s look at how the Great Physician healed a chronically ill man by faith.

Today’s scripture, John 5:5‭-‬15 N(NLT) shares…
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, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Consider…
Wow! There’s so much to unpack here.

First, Jesus, the Great Physician knows how long His patients have been sick. Our passage said…
When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time

It’s good to remember that the God who created you, knows everything about you, including what chronically ails you.

Next, the Great Physician asks simple questions, and makes sense of our convoluted answers. In our scripture, Jesus simply asked if the man wanted to get well. However, the man proceeded to make excuses as to why it wasn’t his fault that he was still sick.

How often do we offer excuses, when Jesus is asking us to simply exercise faith.

Notice, the man’s excuses to Jesus’ rhetorical question…

• “I can’t”
• “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up.”
• “Someone else always gets there ahead of me”.

Those excuses demonstrate the misunderstanding of Jesus’ question as judgement rather than a simple honest question. Don’t justify your condition when Jesus asks if you want to get well. Jesus already knows your heart, therefore His question is rhetorical, so a simple ‘yes’ will do.

The other thing we can see from the patient, is the propensity to follow others rather than trust in God. Notice, for 38 years this man tried to follow other sick people to healing waters. He became so obsessed with reaching the miracle waters, that he didn’t recognize the Miracle Worker who offers living water.

How often do we follow the examples of others as we try to get well. We follow YouTube and TikTok videos, the advice of friends, and the testimonies of celebrities. It’s amazing the lengths that people will go through to get well.

When you’re struggling to get well, don’t miss out on being healed by the Great Physician, who simply wants you to confess that you want to get well. Jesus is still asking us the same question He asked the man, “do you want to get well?” It’s a simple yes or no question. Jesus isn’t trying to judge us, He’s trying to help. Rest assured that Jesus’ intentions for asking if we want to be well are always trustworthy and good.

Okay, let’s continue with the next action that shows us why Jesus is the Great Physician. Notice, He simply spoke healing to the man. But don’t miss, Jesus didn’t tell the man he was healed, He told him to stop making excuses and exercise faith. The reason I say this is because the scripture says…
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Jesus is telling us the same thing, stop making excuses and exercise faith. Remember, we walk by faith not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) Therefore walk out your healing by faith.

We can skip over the religious haters that challenged this man’s healing because it broke their rules. Suffice to say, God is Sovereign and doesn’t need anyone’s permission to do what He chooses to do. If He heals you, don’t feel obligated to justify His will, just accept it and move forward in His grace.

Which brings us to the last observation of the Great Physician, He’s always focused on your soul. Look at what the passage says…
Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”

Jesus wants us to know when He gives us physical second chances, it’s to enable spiritual ones. By removing the physical impediments to our faith and obedience, Jesus expects us to realize our sin-sick soul has been healed too, therefore we must stop sinning.

Hopefully this gives you additional appreciation for our Great Physician and His unconventional healing.

Today’s song is…
Be Healed

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)