The scene was that of a pool surrounded by five porches, which were filled with a great multitude of invalids; a pall of suffering hung over the crowd. The thought prevailed that an angel would come and trouble the pool once in a while and that whoever was fortunate enough to get into the water first would be healed. What slim hope of freedom this was for the weary, needy men and women! And what discouragement, self-pity, rivalry, and envy such a limited concept of good must have led to!
What marvelous healing balm these words of Jesus must have had as they fell upon the receptive ears of one of the invalids, "Wilt thou be made whole?" followed by, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." John 5:6, 8; Immediately, the man did rise and walk. Today, centuries later, Jesus' simple but potent words are still echoing with healing promise in receptive hearts.
Was not Jesus, from the vantage point of his profound knowledge of man's oneness with God, really telling the invalid to arise from the limiting beliefs of matter, to take up the false belief of subservience to an unreal condition, and to walk upright in his God-given freedom? He was to rise from the darkness of superstitious ignorance to the understanding that man is created in God's own likeness and does not need to wait for a miraculous dispensation of good from a God who gives to one but withholds from another. God loves each of His children, and they express the God-given freedom of sonship with Him.
