Sometimes I wish I could put Jesus in a bottle, a special, magic bottle. Then when I really needed him I could rub the bottle a few times with a special Lord's Supper Linen while chanting "I am desperate, please hear me. I am desperate, please hear me."
Please don't judge me too harshly. I think many of us want to have a Jesus that will do our bidding. In fact, we have all sorts of books on the market that provide us with all the tools we need to get our Jesus to come out of our bottles to do our will. I thought for a while that I was above such formulaic reductions of Jesus's intervention in the lives of believers. I wasn't and I aint. I do it all the time.
My latest attempt to reduce Jesus to a genie in a bottle happened when I read about him healing the official's son. I noticed that the man was truly desperate and I thought that desperation must be the key to get my Jesus out of my bottle. Oh, I did not think it out that clearly, but that's what I did. I found myself encouraging people to be "desperate" for Jesus while hoping that my own prayer life reflected an adequate degree of desperation.
The problem is that immediately after healing the desperate official's son, Jesus then goes to Jerusalem and heals that lame guy by the pool. Now for a long time I thought that this guy was desperate too. I don't think so anymore. Oh, I know what your thinking. "Trent, you've gone off the deep end this time. This guy was lame for over 30 years. He must be desperate."
Think about this. If you were lame and bedridden for over 30 years what would you say to someone who asked if you wanted to be better? I would like to think that decades would never rob me of the hope that one day I would be better. I would not want to become resigned to my handicapped status. I want to think that I would say, "Yes I want to get better. I am just afraid to hope for it anymore."
This guy didn't say that. He said, "all these others get in the water before I can. I mean it is not my fault that I am like this. If only these others cared for an old invalid like me I would be on my way." What did he say then? Wellm, He did not say he wanted to be healed. Maybe he was afraid to hope, but when Jesus asked him if he wanted to get better he blamed others.
Now get this, Jesus healed him anyway. Jesus healed him and did not even make him beg like he made the official. Sometimes I don't get it Jesus. First you heal a guy one way and then you go and heal someone else in a completely different manner and for an entirely different reason.
What shocked me most about this story was that when this man was getting up Jesus told this guy to take up his bed. Why would Jesus do that? I mean the mat was probably valuable and this guy would need it wherever he ended up. Interesting isn't it. Apparently this guy would have left the bed there if Jesus did not explicitly tell him to take it. Reasons? A few possible reasons in my opinion.
First, Jesus just wanted to pick a fight with the Pharisees. He knew it was the sabbath and he knew that the Pharisees would make a big deal out of someone carrying their bed on the Sabbath. Second, this guy knew it was the sabbath and he knew he was going to catch "hell" from the pharisees for carrying it, so he needed a little extra push. Third, Jesus knew that this guy would prefer to stay where he was. Jesus wanted this guy to leave this place for invalids and not return.
I think it was a combination of these reasons. Look at what happened when the Pharisees found this guy carrying his bed. They hammered him for breaking their rules for the Sabbath. I don't suppose that there was any real surprise in that. That was pretty much their modus operandi. The thing that I find interesting is the man's response to their hammering. He says, "Hey, don't blame me. It is not my fault. I was minding my own business being crippled when this nosey dude came up to me and healed me. I didn't even tell him I wanted to be healed. It is the sabbath after all." The Pharisees probably stroked their chins and nodded their heads.
Later Jesus finds this guy. Jesus tells him that he better be careful and stop sinning or something worse is going to happen to him. What could be worse than being crippled for 30 some years? Apparently something could. Maybe that worse thing was disbelief in the person who just healed you. I don't know, just a thought.
Guess what this guy does when Jesus gives him this warning. He takes off and rats out Jesus to the Pharisees. Can you believe that? It is this part of the story that made me realize that this guy was not desperate for healing. This guy was desperate for sympathy. He wanted sympathy from others for not being able to make it into the pool. He wanted sympathy from the Pharisees for being wronged on the Sabbath. He wanted sympathy from Jesus, but he did not want to be healed. When he is healed what does he do? He blames.
Now here is where I struggle. Why then did Jesus heal this guy? Was it just to show me thousands of years later that he should not be put in a bottle to be rubbed and chanted over at the right time to intervene in a desperate situation? I don't know. All I know is that Jesus does help desperate people but he also chooses not to sometimes. I also know that Jesus helps people who are not desperate sometimes and sometimes he doesn't. He is a hard guy to figure out.
Maybe Jesus just wants to stay out of our bottles.
Please don't judge me too harshly. I think many of us want to have a Jesus that will do our bidding. In fact, we have all sorts of books on the market that provide us with all the tools we need to get our Jesus to come out of our bottles to do our will. I thought for a while that I was above such formulaic reductions of Jesus's intervention in the lives of believers. I wasn't and I aint. I do it all the time.
My latest attempt to reduce Jesus to a genie in a bottle happened when I read about him healing the official's son. I noticed that the man was truly desperate and I thought that desperation must be the key to get my Jesus out of my bottle. Oh, I did not think it out that clearly, but that's what I did. I found myself encouraging people to be "desperate" for Jesus while hoping that my own prayer life reflected an adequate degree of desperation.
The problem is that immediately after healing the desperate official's son, Jesus then goes to Jerusalem and heals that lame guy by the pool. Now for a long time I thought that this guy was desperate too. I don't think so anymore. Oh, I know what your thinking. "Trent, you've gone off the deep end this time. This guy was lame for over 30 years. He must be desperate."
Think about this. If you were lame and bedridden for over 30 years what would you say to someone who asked if you wanted to be better? I would like to think that decades would never rob me of the hope that one day I would be better. I would not want to become resigned to my handicapped status. I want to think that I would say, "Yes I want to get better. I am just afraid to hope for it anymore."
This guy didn't say that. He said, "all these others get in the water before I can. I mean it is not my fault that I am like this. If only these others cared for an old invalid like me I would be on my way." What did he say then? Wellm, He did not say he wanted to be healed. Maybe he was afraid to hope, but when Jesus asked him if he wanted to get better he blamed others.
Now get this, Jesus healed him anyway. Jesus healed him and did not even make him beg like he made the official. Sometimes I don't get it Jesus. First you heal a guy one way and then you go and heal someone else in a completely different manner and for an entirely different reason.
What shocked me most about this story was that when this man was getting up Jesus told this guy to take up his bed. Why would Jesus do that? I mean the mat was probably valuable and this guy would need it wherever he ended up. Interesting isn't it. Apparently this guy would have left the bed there if Jesus did not explicitly tell him to take it. Reasons? A few possible reasons in my opinion.
First, Jesus just wanted to pick a fight with the Pharisees. He knew it was the sabbath and he knew that the Pharisees would make a big deal out of someone carrying their bed on the Sabbath. Second, this guy knew it was the sabbath and he knew he was going to catch "hell" from the pharisees for carrying it, so he needed a little extra push. Third, Jesus knew that this guy would prefer to stay where he was. Jesus wanted this guy to leave this place for invalids and not return.
I think it was a combination of these reasons. Look at what happened when the Pharisees found this guy carrying his bed. They hammered him for breaking their rules for the Sabbath. I don't suppose that there was any real surprise in that. That was pretty much their modus operandi. The thing that I find interesting is the man's response to their hammering. He says, "Hey, don't blame me. It is not my fault. I was minding my own business being crippled when this nosey dude came up to me and healed me. I didn't even tell him I wanted to be healed. It is the sabbath after all." The Pharisees probably stroked their chins and nodded their heads.
Later Jesus finds this guy. Jesus tells him that he better be careful and stop sinning or something worse is going to happen to him. What could be worse than being crippled for 30 some years? Apparently something could. Maybe that worse thing was disbelief in the person who just healed you. I don't know, just a thought.
Guess what this guy does when Jesus gives him this warning. He takes off and rats out Jesus to the Pharisees. Can you believe that? It is this part of the story that made me realize that this guy was not desperate for healing. This guy was desperate for sympathy. He wanted sympathy from others for not being able to make it into the pool. He wanted sympathy from the Pharisees for being wronged on the Sabbath. He wanted sympathy from Jesus, but he did not want to be healed. When he is healed what does he do? He blames.
Now here is where I struggle. Why then did Jesus heal this guy? Was it just to show me thousands of years later that he should not be put in a bottle to be rubbed and chanted over at the right time to intervene in a desperate situation? I don't know. All I know is that Jesus does help desperate people but he also chooses not to sometimes. I also know that Jesus helps people who are not desperate sometimes and sometimes he doesn't. He is a hard guy to figure out.
Maybe Jesus just wants to stay out of our bottles.
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