Reflective Bible Study

Of all the miracles and healings Jesus performed, one stands out in my mind as fascinating and perplexing. The gospel of John shares this miracle with us and he describes it taking place during one of the Jewish festivals (most likely a Passover).

The thing that makes me intrigued about this miracle is that it seems as though Jesus ignores many of the others. John opens this event by saying, “After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a large number of the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed”. (v. 1-3)

Perhaps John simply doesn’t include the detail that Jesus began healing all those who were present there, but what John does include is Jesus’ interaction with one individual. John tells us, “One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (v. 5-6)

While the answer to Jesus’ question seems obvious, it has profound implications. This man had been sick for almost four decades of his life, and it might seem as though it was about time. However, perhaps the man had begun to accept his disability and had resigned himself to living the rest of his life next to that pool. Perhaps seeing others healed before him had cut deep wounds and made him lose hope. After 38 years of trying without success, Jesus’ question to this man takes on a new level of significance.

The disabled man may have given up hope and decided in his heart that he couldn’t get well. When Jesus came and asked him the question, we see an interesting angle of compassion that I don’t believe I have seen anywhere else in the gospels. As far as I can tell, this is the only miracle that Jesus prompts with a question – asking the sick individual if they want to be healed.

This event tells me that Jesus, while He wants to heal and help people, will not intervene in the life of someone who is unwilling to receive help. I believe that if the man had responded that he preferred the charity and the life he had become accustomed to by the pool, then Jesus would have moved on to the next person. Jesus honors our choice and free will above His power to heal.

The theme that I learn from this miracle is that the first step to letting Jesus heal/help me is by wanting His help. No matter how much help He sends my way, if I don’t want to receive it, the help does no good. When asking God for help, if we haven’t received the answer we are looking for, perhaps He is asking, “Do you really want my help?”

Early in Jesus’ ministry, the gospel of Mark includes an event that touches on an issue we all face when interacting with others. In this event, which Matthew and Luke also include in their gospels, we learn about how to face peer pressure – even if this pressure is positive.

Mark opens this event by sharing a question. To set up this question, he begins by telling us, “John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t?’” (v. 18)

The detail in this verse that catches my attention is that it is other people who were outside observers to these groups who bring the question up. They noticed that the Pharisees often fasted, and John’s disciples fasted as well, but they didn’t see Jesus’ followers doing this spiritual discipline.

While Jesus shares a great answer, it is the question, and the tension that this question creates that is powerful for us to pay attention to. In life, whenever we interact with a group of people, there is the pressure to conform and be like them. The conforming pressure we face might be aligning with the group’s opinion for or against an issue, it could be conforming to a certain style of clothing, it could be conforming to talking a certain way, or really any number of other things. Conforming can take many shapes, and not all conforming is bad.

However, where conforming really becomes an issue is when we stop thinking about how we are conforming to those around us. The people in this passage are objectively looking at the differences between these various group of people and asking a relevant question. These people who asked Jesus their question demonstrate wisdom because they are not simply going to join a group of people without first counting the cost and weighing their options.

The wisdom this group of people demonstrates with their question challenges me to live and think more objectively. These people challenge me to be more conscious of the ways I am conforming to others, and to be more intentional about choosing only positive, beneficial groups to conform to. In a subtle way, this group of people emphasizes the truth that our choice of friends is one of the most important decisions we can ever make in this life.

In these two passages on the same event, we find two of the most quoted phrases/promises Jesus ever said – but too many times, they are shared out of context, and because they are shared out of context, we lose some of the power behind them.

• “Everything is possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23b)
• “. . . if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Between these two verses, as well as a few others, a whole “self-help” movement has been launched within Christianity. I will be the first to say that this prompts mixed feelings in my own mind.

The very positive side of these phrases is that they empower individuals towards acting – and ideally acting in a way that can improve lives – both their lives and the lives of those they are around. Phrases such as these help individuals push forward and take on huge, “God-sized” dreams. There is power in believing you are capable of greatness, and belief is necessary for positive change.

However, when we only look at the secular application of these phrases (i.e. out of context), we miss out on some interesting spiritual truths. A father is bringing his son to Jesus for healing. While the father has doubts on whether Jesus can heal his son, he has enough faith/belief to try – to bring his son to Jesus. The first key to maximizing these phrases is that we are to be leading people to Jesus.

The second key is what Jesus tells His disciples when they ask Him why they couldn’t cast out the demon. After all, they had cast other demons out of people, so what was different about this situation? In Jesus’ response in Mark 9:29, we see prayer being another necessary key: “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Sometimes, we face circumstances that are not solvable by us, through quick wit, cleaver thinking, or anything else we can come up with. In these situations, the direction we must turn is to God, through prayer.

Through these two neglected keys, we can tap into the full power of these promises. However, while the out-of-context versions of these promises often lead people to focusing on themselves or others, the in-context versions of these promises prompt us to lead people to Jesus, lean on Jesus for our support, and look to Jesus for our guidance. This isn’t a “wait for Jesus to move before we start” idea, but instead, it is a challenge for us to get started and see where Jesus leads!

In a short, unique event that only Matthew’s gospel includes, we catch one of Jesus’ closest followers telling a lie to try and protect Jesus. When caught off guard with a question Peter wasn’t expecting, Peter’s immediate reaction is to give the response he believed those asking the question would want to hear, regardless of whether it was the truth or not.

Matthew tells us, “When Jesus and his followers came to Capernaum, the men who collected the Temple tax came to Peter. They asked, ‘Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?’” (v. 24)

In that time period, every Jew was expected to pay a small fee to help with the upkeep of the temple, so the question that these tax collectors make of Peter regarding Jesus is a fair one since Jesus is Jewish.

But instead of countering the question with another question, or simply deferring to asking Jesus personally, Peter answers with the response he believes they wanted to hear. Peter responded by saying, “Yes, Jesus pays the tax.” (v. 25)

Peter lied because he thought that this would protect Jesus and His reputation, but instead, it made him look foolish. However, what I find encouraging about this event is that instead of chastising or punishing Peter, Jesus simply offers him a way to redeem himself. While Jesus would have answered differently, He chooses to support the implications Peter made with his lie even if paying the tax wasn’t truly a requirement from God.

After explaining to Peter and the others how God has adopted us into His family, Jesus gives Peter instructions for how to acquire enough to pay the temple tax for both him and Jesus. This makes me wonder if Peter had avoided paying the tax himself in prior years.

This short, four verse event helps us see that God isn’t mad when we make mistakes or when we mess up. This event gives us hope that God will make a way forward for us after our mistakes, and a way that will redeem us from the foolish and/or incorrect things that we say without thinking.