The House Of Kindness

There is a story in the New Testament that has always weighed on my mind in that I've never fully been at peace with the way some interpret it..

The story is found in John 5:1-9 and tells how there was a pool called Bethesda where miracles happened. At certain seasons an angel would stir the waters and whoever got into the water first was healed of whatever sickness they had.

Jesus comes on the scene and taking note of a man who had been lying by that pool for 38 years, He asked him,

"Would you like to get well?"

The man responds by saying that he could not get well because every time the waters were stirred someone would get in the water before he could. He had no one who would help Him.

I've heard this invalid described as an excuse maker, an apathetic man who was wallowing in self pity. I heard it said that if this man really wanted to be healed he would have found a way to get in that pool, therefore if you and I are not healed, delivered, or still struggling in some emotional area it's because we just don't want the victory bad enough. 

I do believe that we are responsible to do our part when it comes to receiving things from the Lord. But, I also know that sometimes people suffer from conditions (Physically, mentally, spiritually) that they can do absolutely nothing about. They are not making excuses they just do not see a way out of their suffering. It is in these cases that God expects us to help one another.

It is amusing that the pool was called Bethesda which in the Hebrew means house of kindness. Imagine this. The pool is packed with the sick and infirm waiting for the angel to stir the water. They are as close to the pool as they can get. Day after day passes and everyone is afraid to sleep or take their eyes off the water for even a second. Everyone is on edge and no one is thinking about their neighbor. All they want is to be the first one in the water so they can be free from misery. Finally the waters begin to stir and the people are anything but kind. The sick are trampling on one another. Fists flail as each one desperately attempts to be the first to step in. 

Finally a shout of triumph! A young man with kidney stones had pushed down an elderly woman with cancer and stepped in the water first. Glorifying God he went home healed with out a second thought about those still sick. The crowd went back, each one to their place, some weeping, others grumbling, all dejected. 

Then Jesus comes and His attention is immediately fixed on the one who had been their 38 years and his complaint was so genuine Jesus did not dispute it. There was no one who would help. So Jesus spoke and the man was healed.

I have several thoughts on the matter and even as I write I pray God convict me daily to put my needs on the back burner when I have an opportunity to show a kindness.

1) We are our brother's keeper. We have a responsibility to be the solution to an other's problem. I imagine Jesus angry at the selfishness of His people as they lay by that pool. He still gets angry. We get so wrapped up in ourselves, our trials, that we forget to have compassion for one another. When we get our breakthrough we praise God with our mouth but forget that our brother is still suffering. 

I wonder what would have happened if someone had determined that the next time the pool stirred they would grab their brother and jump in together. Maybe God would have been so pleased that in His mercy they both would have been healed. Maybe a revival would have started and everyone who jumped in would have gotten healed.

Don't forget the four friends that tore up the roof of a house to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus healed that man and said it was because of the faith of his friends. Mark 2:1-5

2) Jesus healed the man by the pool and it was the sabbath. Jesus knew by healing this man on the sabbath He was asking for persecution as it was considered unlawful to heal on the sabbath. 
It will cost us to extend help to someone else. We will suffer the little...maybe giving up our eating out money to give another family groceries. We will suffer greatly...as do those who bring the Gospel of Salvation to countries where Christians are persecuted to the death. Yet those who are willing to lay down their life to bless someone else are called the friends of Jesus.

3) Finally, and my sincere apologies if this sounds cynical but, in the end we can really only depend on Jesus. For 38 years no one would help this man and I imagine he must have reached out for help. He must have begged for help only to have people turn a deaf ear. For 38 years people had an opportunity to show kindness in the House of Kindness and no one did. The man waited because he had no choice, but finally God showed up.

The proper response to this is to keep your heart soft and do not get bitter. Selfishness is human nature even in the most spiritual man or woman of God. The best of us have to fight off self more than the devil...how much more those in the church who do not seek God and His ways. 

Just remember while you wait for God, though you may have been forsaken do not forsake others. When God shows up pay it forward.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Phil 2:3-4