By Nancy Virden (c)2023

John 5:1-14- excerpt from Real Like Us, available on this website.

Near the Jewish Temple in ancient Jerusalem, a pool called Bethesda is one part of a series of installed reservoirs fed by nearby mountain springs. A covered colonnade outlines the pool, serving as
an Asklepion, a temple of worship for the Roman-adopted Greek god of healing, Asclepius.

Rooms divide the long colonnade into five porches. It is to this place that sick and injured men, women, and children regularly travel, often for days, to join blind and paralyzed fellow hopefuls. Therapies are selected based on a patient’s dream the night before, so some stay for weeks, trusting this god to reveal cures as they sleep.

Priest-physicians and attendants use some rooms for cleansing rituals and healing practices. Prescriptions include drinking large amounts of water or taking herbs. Concocted remedies such as the licking of wounds by sacred dogs or even the bite of one of the nonvenomous snakes allowed to slither freely, capture the curiosity of the desperate.

A looming statue of Asclepius guards the treasury, a table for sacrifices and offerings that sits at his feet. In this disabled society, financial options are few outside of begging, yet the table daily piles up with coins and food. Grandest hopes are reserved for the “miracle” in the water. Something mysterious stirs the water occasionally, and the first person in the pool after such a movement is immediately healed – or so the superstition promises.

Jedediah, a misshapen man, has visited the pool for thirty-eight years. He stares upward from a thick woven mat, ignoring multitudes of pained faces and voices that pass. His broken and twisted legs are painful and useless. Weakening arms have been his independence. Lately, he has needed more help. Earlier this morning, an attendant responded to his daily plea and carried him, hugging his mat, to secure a spot as close as possible to the water’s edge.

Today’s effort is spurred more by habit than hope. The Asklepion is nearly overrun by an influx of visitors due to the Jewish Festival planned for tomorrow. Discouragement slugs through the spirits of
regulars.

“Wait, I was here first!” A sudden tug threatens to topple Jedediah to his side. “Stop!” he yells. Grasping at his mat’s edges, he barely manages to hold himself upright as he and his bed are dragged by anonymous hands, probably those of a friend or family member of another helpless one.

Landing on his back, fury is soon dismissed with a sigh. I knew it! Why try? For only a moment, his eyes search for rare kindness among the crowd. Self-interest soars in everyone’s thoughts today.

He clings to a palm-sized carving, a serpent-wrapped pole it took him months to perfect. Taller duplicates surround the porches as symbols of the mercy of Asclepius. He feels small, the temple’s imposing columns shrinking what remains of his spirit. I am done. This is a numberless lottery, a play
of chance and good fortune, he muses bitterly.

“Do you want to be healed?” A male voice from behind stands out among the noisy crowd. Jedediah sits up, arcing his neck to see who is talking.

The speaker walks around to face him and squats. Jedediah nods incredulously at this apparent compassion, only a sliver of hope allowing that this man might return him to his place by the water.
Instead of answering the question, Jedediah hints at potential service. “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going, someone else steps down before
me.”

Jesus’ fixed gaze travels past Jedediah’s sparkless eyes, as if dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. A disconcerting warmth melts Jedediah’s resistance. Jesus smiles abruptly, stands, and says, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

Dead legs tingle. Knotted joints relax. Atrophied muscles expand. Broken and disintegrating bones reconnect and find their proper fittings. Heat runs throughout Jedediah’s body with a resurgence of
blood flow, instantly removing all traces of pain and dysfunction.

In bewildered awe, he senses his new body is rising and in shock, he leans over to pick up his mat. Walking (or floating- he is not sure) toward the exit, he finds himself twirling like a child, arms outstretched, and shouting, “I am healed! I am healed!”

His cure had not come in a dream though he waited for years. He had not reached the water in time. His serpent pole had done nothing to unwind his muscles. Dropping the carving, he races with unpracticed legs to the Temple of the One True God.

Jesus finds him on the Temple floor weeping in repentance and gratitude. Laughing, Jesus kneels beside him. “See, you are well again!”

Jedediah sniffles.

Resting a hand on the amazed man’s shoulder and cocking his head to square off again with Jedediah’s eyes and faith, Jesus said, “Now, stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

His eyes shining, the new man nods, stands to face the Savior, and walks out into his second chance.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

John 5:8-9

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.

If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or for a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speaks only from personal experience and observations. In no way is this website intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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