MY FRIENDS, BEYOND THE POOL THERE IS GREATER GRACE!!

Jan. 29, 2016

MY FRIENDS, BEYOND THE POOL THERE IS GREATER GRACE!!

The narrative begins in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water….John 5:1-3 (NKJV)

“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty- eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, He knew his condition and how long he had been there. He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” John 5:5-7 (NKJV)

My friends, focus today on the words “He knew.” As a verb the word knew tells us He perceive or understood as fact or truth; and apprehended clearly and with certainty the man’s conditions and how long He had been there.

This is at a time when divinity is at the forefront of humanity and Christ has firsthand  knowledge of a “certain man” and his condition. Now today let’s make it personal and make ourselves “a certain man or woman” and like “this certain man” Christ knows how long we have been at the pool of  Bethesda in the Hebrew language Bethesda means house of mercy or house of grace.

So why does Jesus ask? “Do you want to be made well?” We can only imagine, Jesus asked this question because he knew this man had wasted many years of his life waiting on the movement of water, in a pool, that had no supernatural power to heal.

In addition, God needed him to exemplify his faith, as with us, into believing what He is capable of doing because He is God and He is willing to give us what we ask in His name, if we believe.

So Christ ask, “do you want to be made whole?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

And that is when confusion settles in, and like “a certain man” we look to others to attain some glimmer of hope when our hope, Jesus Christ is waiting patiently right in front of us. But our attention is averted so we lose our focus and just sit on our mat by the pool of grace and mercy.

“Not realizing grace is free, but Salvation can only be obtained through the blood of Christ so to say, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will not give us entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but only he or she who does the will of “our Father who is in heaven” will enter.” Matt. 7:21 (NASB)

So friends, does the poolside become a familiar and safe environment where we become used to inactivity while also failing to recognize Christ presence and what He is willing to give us? And are we spiritually sick, enjoying what the god of this world has to offer, so we really don’t want change or to be made whole?

Have we become complacent, lackadaisical, and self-indulgent, forgetting even how to respond to Jesus presence as He knocks at the door of our hearts? Remember my friends this is personal even though a “great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, are waiting for the moving of the water”

He seeks out us, and ask, do we want to be made well in the midst of our “Sin and despair, because Christ knows like the sea waves cold, it threatens the soul with infinite loss; but grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross.” and that my friends is where we will receive grace more abundantly.

Every excuse we may give as the reason we cannot serve Christ, was challenged and answered at Calvary.