Hope
2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew[a] Beth-zatha,[b] which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many ill, blind, lame, and paralyzed people.[c] 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The ill man answered him, “Sir,[d] I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.
John 5:2-9 (NRSV)
STORY
J. Philip Wogaman, under whom I studied, was the professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., from 1966 to 1992. Dr. Wogaman always began the first class of each semester with this question: “What is the central theme of the Bible?” He heard from the students the expected responses of love, forgiveness, and salvation. I am sure you could name some themes that could be added to this list of replies.
But the one answer the professor never received was the word “hope.” Wogaman would then discuss with the seminary students seated before him that hope is the central message of the scriptures. This is because hope is the message of the Resurrection, as well as the message of the Exodus.
DEVOTION
In our devotional reading for this morning an ill man is lying beside the pool of Beth-zatha in Jerusalem. When the water in the pool is disturbed by the hand of an angel, the first person into the pool is healed. Some manuscripts read that when an angel “stirred up the water; whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well from whatever disease that person had.”
The man, as the biblical story implies, was a cripple. Therefore, he was incapable of being the first one to immerse himself in the pool when the water was stirred. The story informs us that for thirty-eight years the man has waited beside the pool, because, as an invalid, he was unable to immerse himself in the healing water. Even more sorrowful is that no one had ever offered to assist him. And even more distressing is the selfishness of the individuals who surrounded the pool, as we learn that the ill man was always pushed out of the way so someone else could step down ahead of him.
Jesus, the friend of everyone, came to a man who was a total and complete stranger. Jesus asked the man a very important question, “Do you want to be made well?” This is a significant question because after thirty-eight years of lying next to the pool, possibly the man had lost all hope. Perhaps the ill man has resigned himself to the fact that he will never be healed.
We know that this was not the case for the man told Jesus that he wanted to be the first one into the pool, though he was unable to do so. We realize the cripple man never lost his sense of expectation. The ill man never lost his hope.
It is often helpful to use a dictionary definition to provide us with a better understanding into the meaning of a word. Dictionary.com defines hope as “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” The unnamed man, lying for thirty-eight years beside the pool of Beth-zatha, expressed discouragement, though he never became discouraged. He never left the side of the pool. He never ceased in his effort to be healed.
As the story concludes, Jesus healed the ill man who “took up his mat and began to walk.”
Dr. Wogaman’s lesson on hope is important for all of us. I am sure that we can recount many other themes that are central to the Bible, but does any one of those themes summarize the Bible better than the word “hope.”
In reading this morning’s lesson it is important for us to note that the man was first introduced to us as being “ill.” Later in the story we are told that the rippling pool water would heal “whatever disease a person had.” These verses now include all of us in this story. This now makes all of us a part of the story because we are all ill, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. We are crippled and living with hope for a better future.
Hope is a universal theme throughout the scriptures. For the Hebrews it was the helplessness of being in servitude to the Egyptians, without any possibility of emancipation. For the disciples of Jesus it appeared that all expectations and dreams were dashed on Calvary Hill.
Then what was hoped for became a reality. The Exodus story. The Resurrection story. Both proclaiming the same identical message of deliverance. Despair was cast aside as peace and harmony took its place.
From making bricks without straw came an Exodus to the Promised Land.
From the darkness of the cross came the brilliance of the Resurrection.
There are many issues in our lives that will find us lying beside the pool of Beth-zatha, seeking an Exodus, desiring a Resurrection. Each problem, each sorrow, and each struggle is extremely personal for every individual. It is impossible to catalog all the difficulties and heartaches that brings an individual to the edge of the pool, though all of us will find ourselves lying there as we journey through the uncertainties of life.
Today, for us, our pool of Beth-zatha is the Christian church. It is within these sacred walls that we will feel the hand of Jesus touching us, lifting us up saying, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”