Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he 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” (John 5:3-7).
Our Father in heaven, You are the God who created us in His own image (Genesis 1:27). You knew us before You formed [us] in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5). You tell us how deeply and unreservedly You value us—You number even the very hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7).
We have seen Your care and compassion in the healing ministry of our Savior, as He went throughout Galilee... proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:23).
The gospel writers give us close-up accounts of those who sought healing and restoration—those who were physically brought to Him, those who came themselves, those who mingled in the crowd, those who stood on the fringes, those who called out from a distance, and those who were brought by the petitions of loved ones.
But the apostle John shows us one lacking the ability to come on his own—or the benevolence of another to convey him to hope and healing. We see the gentle compassion of a Savior approaching the one who cannot approach, asking him, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6).
O Lord, thank You that Your compassion finds the trampled, the overlooked, the forgotten. We pray now for them—the ones who are trying to get in[to] crowded healing pools—transplant priority lists, donor matches, screening services, treatment options, recovery processes, basic access.
We pray for those whose healing is hindered by the tangled and ruthless realities of insurance approvals, stressful paperwork, financial roadblocks, draining appeal processes. We pray for those exhausted by the struggle.
We pray for those who are constantly cast aside by systems and processes built for "survival of the fittest"—those, who like this man Jesus approached, are trying to hold on just a little bit longer, while living in the harsh reality of "I have no one to help me..." (John 5:7). We pray for those who are hindered by poverty or status—blocked from healing because someone else [is always] ahead (John 5:7).
Oh Lord, open our eyes to see the great number of disabled among us—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. The ones who have been immobilized for thirty-eight, fifty-five, twenty-one, eighty years. Physically and spiritually.
Give us hearts of compassion like Jesus. We have so many set ideas, so many opinions, so many prejudices! Yes, we live in a society—a world full of layers and complexities. But teach us to follow the example of a Savior who looked beyond exacting, legalistic, constraints and said to a person in dire need, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8).
Comments