I love reading my New Living Translation of the Bible, but it has a unique little quirk to it. It shows some verses found in a few translations as footnotes. Such is the case with John 5:3-5:
3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[a]5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.
Footnotes:
- John 5:3 Some manuscripts add an expanded conclusion to verse 3 and all of verse 4: waiting for a certain movement of the water, 4for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step in after the water was stirred was healed of whatever disease he had.
Perhaps verse 4 was added later to the manuscripts to explain why all these people were at the pool of Bethesda.
Have you ever wanted people to read the footnotes of your life instead of what they just see? The whys and wherefores of the decisions you’ve made. “Why in the world would she feel that way about what was said?” “How could she have done that?” If only they could read the footnotes. Then they would see the things that had happened to you in the past to cause you to think and receive input from others the way you do. I understand why the man was at the pool now. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make much sense to hang out with a lot of other sick people. Why not just stay home? Well, there was no hope at home. Nothing there could make him well. At least, at the pool he had a chance.
How close to the water had he gotten in these 38 years? Right next to the water, but never close enough to be healed. How many people are in churches today, sitting right next to someone who was healed of this or that disease or illness, yet they are still suffering after all these years. And what is their suffering? Paralyzed by fear, loss of all hope, tormenting illness or pain, unrelenting grief over guilt or loss of a loved one, remorse or regret. They come week after week, yet no relief is found. Still there is that small glimmer of hope. Hope that someday, somehow, relief and deliverance will come.
One day Jesus did come for this man. And instead of the man seeking out Jesus, Jesus sought out him. Jesus seeks us out to save and deliver us from ourselves. As the man looked to himself and the others around him to get him into the water, he found that man’s help is sporadic and erratic at best. It got him to the water, but not in the water. But now the water has come to him. Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus comes to us? We don’t have to go searching for Him in our own strength or rely on the spiritual strength of others. Yes, the Living Water is standing by. Jump in, the water’s great.
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