John 5

The older I get, the more I like them – doctors, that is. I have a rheumatologist for my arthritis, a dermatologist for my psoriasis, an ENT doctor for my sinus condition, and a regular doctor I call Wayne for everything else.

But the sad truth is, I’m getting older, and I’m just falling apart. Not that I’m complaining, mind you: some guys my age have already gone on to their just reward (whatever that is). I’ll be joining them one day, and so will you. Pardon the cliché, but death is just another part of living.

That’s why I marvel at the folks who insist that the mission of Jesus was primarily to bring about physical healing. And to be sure, he did his share of healing. Take this poor lame fellow here in John chapter five, for instance. There he was, just sitting by the pool waiting for an angel to stir up the water. According to legend, the first person to jump in after the angelic stirring would be healed of whatever ailed him. Maybe it was the Ancients’ version of Last One in is a Rotten Egg.

Of course, this wasn’t the only instance where Jesus was found healing sick, crippled, or even dead people. He seemed to be doing it all the time, and the crowds loved him for it.
But if we are to maintain that his mission was simply to heal, I have a couple of problems with that. First of all, everyone he healed eventually died anyhow. Sure, he relieved them of their physical bonds for the moment, but the end result was still the same. They croaked. Secondly, since he was in a sense God, why didn’t he just heal everyone on earth at the same time? He could have done that from heaven and spared himself the cross.

The truth is, his purpose was higher, much more otherworldly than simple physical healing. For the creator of the universe, healing was a simple task. It cost him nothing, and could be done by simply reversing, or suspending, the laws of nature. After all, they were his laws, weren’t they?

As far as I can tell, Jesus’ purpose in healing this particular man was two-fold.

First of all, he exposed the hypocrisy of Jewish tradition. As with all religious tradition, it at some point supplants the will of God. God simply said, “Don’t carry a burden on the Sabbath.” This law was designed to make sure man took a break from the distractions of life and reflected on his relationship with his creator.

What strikes me odd about this event is that the Jewish leaders ignored the obvious: in Jesus’ healing of this poor fellow, something took place that could not be explained away. God had intervened in the natural order of things and broken his own rules. Simply put, crippled men don’t just jump up from their beds of affliction and start dancing around. The only explanation for this man’s healing is that God had performed an immediate and undeniable miracle.

Can you imagine witnessing such an occurrence only to point out that the one performing the healing had violated tradition? One would think that the only appropriate response would be, Good grief! Did you see what I just saw? Not so with these fellows. They didn’t care about the crippled fellow or that God had just done something miraculous in their presence. Tradition had been broken, and everyone knows that we can’t do that.

What really gets my attention, however, is that Jesus appears to have a purpose in healing this fellow that goes beyond making him whole, namely to lay out his business plan for his kingdom. If you notice, he responded to the objections of the rabbis with a bold proclamation – I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death into life.

Forget physical healing, we are talking about resurrection here. I would hope that I would have been one of those who would see Jesus’ miracles and later witness his resurrection from the tomb and said, Hey, I don’t care about tradition or protocol or social convention. I’m with this guy! He heals sick people, raises dead people, and now he himself has walked away from the tomb. And he promises that I can do the same thing? This is a no-brainer. I'm going with Jesus.

But who knows? Maybe I would have been one of the skeptics. Maybe I am one of the skeptics, but I would like to think that I would be like this fellow who in telling the Jews who it was who healed him seemed to be saying, Well, don’t you look pretty all dressed up in your robes. All those years I languished by the pool and you didn’t raise a finger to render aid to me. Then along comes this Jesus and heals me. And later on, after I’m dead, he’s going to give me eternal life.

Hmmm! When faced with the decision to follow Jesus or not, it is a fairly easy one to make when you think about it like that, isn't it?