*Spiritual Review*:
- The world has and will continue to be graced with great men and women, who have done inspired works or achievements, even to the end of time. That being said, the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ separates Him, head and shoulder above all. Though He walked on earth in normal human form, He was and is the presence of the only true Divine and Majestic reign of eternal power and excellence far above all things, both in the physical and spiritual realms. He was and is the brightness of God’s Glory, the express image of His Person. No human person or name would ever equate to His Eminence…none forever and there is no room for comparison. Of great reflection is that He never wrote books or scripts to prove to the world that He demands recognition or respect, neither with the intention to serve God and humankind in half-measure, but to the fullness of the Glory of God. That is, He was and still into eternity the greatest, humble service and commitment for good, which represents the highest level of divine insight and lively discipline. Notwithstanding, the Holy Bible tells us of the occasion when He stooped twice and wrote on the ground during the case of the woman caught in adultery.
Thus, the name Bethesda in Hebrew simply means the house of mercy. This place was close to the sheep market in Jerusalem. It was no wonder that in this place was a pool of water where lots of sick and those afflicted with different ailments took solace in waiting for the water in the pool to be stirred by an angel, and the first person that gets in would be healed. Not surprising, in this crowd of sick and physically challenged people, was this man who had been paralysed for 38 years lying beside the pool waiting for an opportunity to be the first to step into the stirred pool water. According to Biblical records, people were healed of all kinds of sickness, when they were the first to have stepped in after the angel stirred the water.
This crippled man had being there for long on his bed by the pool and most disheartening was that he knew it was near impossible to be the first to step into the stirred pool of water because he could not move, but by sheer conviction, or faith, patience and unbending hope, he did not allow his disability or deficiency to take away, becloud or darkened those cherished qualities he had built in himself while waiting, which were faith, patience and hope. This man showed us what it meant not to allow our human deficiencies, inabilities, mountains, and barriers to outweigh us. Instead, to turn those drawbacks into the capacity that formats or structure our inner-self or core to the cherished virtues of building up strength, toughness, dynamism or vitality over and above the barriers, as these would gradually stir up the inner stability, which is the currency of patience, leading to the brightening assurance in the heart even without visible result. The good lesson of the situation is that it gives us the opportunity even with the opposition it presents that we can always lean on hope, which is built on the back of critical circumstance, formidable vision ahead of us, and the daring willingness in life of the soul by accepting and connecting that the future looks better than where we are now. Hope is the promissory note or substance that is built on the relationship of reliance. This is the reliance that creates the bridge between reality and sustained resourcefulness with the vital tool of thoroughness molding itself into good timing. Some would call it trust in God because it reveals at the end, the courage to keep focused on the bright future guaranteed in the promises of the Almighty, knowing that our part of the job is to stay, wait or trust in Him. This fellow was not enjoying the fact that he was always beaten to the pool for his healing. However, while he was not matching with others physically, he was stretching his conscience beyond measure as the steady custodian of the very virtue God responds to in times of uttermost challenge, which is patience in trusting for the best from God with the unwavering focus to the resounding truth in the heart greased in gratitude for life. As a crippled, the ability of competing equally or favorably with others was near zero, but the ability of self-motivation and focus instilled on the best from life, though not seen with the naked eyes, were the values he chose to rank himself with. These were the triggers of destiny that brought his divine appointment with the Lord, who was greater than the angel that came to stir the pool of water he had been waiting endlessly on. That is, the crippled man was constantly without voicing it out crying for help by aligning his physical disability with the consciousness of purity and directly connecting this with gratitude to the heavenly benevolence evidenced everywhere. Hence, when the heavenly benevolence finally came in the person of Christ Jesus, he was ready to receive this glorious opportunity because for years he had silently built up his trust, patience and hope that always attracts the attention of the goodwill of the Almighty. Other two issues of note, were that the healing took place on the sabbath day, which irked the religious minds of the people towards Jesus because it was considered a violation to work on the Sabbath day. Quick question…what about giving birth on the Sabbath day, is it a violation? The second was in response to their questioning, and Jesus Christ said, He must do the works of His Father that sent Him, which further angered these folks because calling God His Father was to them equating Himself with God. However, with all due respect by yielding to the lead of His Spirit, we would skip these for another day by summarizing the message from the attitude of the crippled man to his prevailing situation as equal to the saying that with God nothing is impossible. That we can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens us. This really exemplifies the saying that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The faith that moves mountains. This paralysed man kept his hope of his healing as real even when it had not evidently came to light. This gives us the deep revelation that hope or trust in God are fellowship or sowing of the soul into the amazing reservoir in the provisions of eternal Glory by honoring and gratifying that Presence, knowing by accepting the opportunity and or relationship as the source of other benefits life deserves. This crippled man gave us the blueprint and Jesus Christ confirmed this with the Majestic reign by setting in order the complete physical and spiritual wellness to this man, which in turn becomes the blessed lesson for humankind to lean and learn from, to the glory of God the Father…Amen!